‘Killer’ string claims another life
Flying kites can be lethal as many kite strings are coated with metal or crushed glass mixed with glue to help cut the strings of rival kites which have taken many lives. PHOTO FILE
Punjab government has failed to save the citizens from risks posed by kite string as cases of casualties and injuries resulting from kite flying in the provincial metropolis keep pouring in from various areas of the provincial metropolis.
A four-year-old girl died in a hospital, four days after she was injured by kite string in Islampura. The victim identified as Fatima was going with her father on a motorbike when kite string ran over her neck. The child suffered severe injuries and fell down onto the road. She was admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment but succumbed to the injuries on Tuesday.
Hue and cry by the victims’ families, public outrage and calls for stricter enforcement of the government’s zero-tolerance policy has not borne substantial results. The successive governments’ ‘stern’ actions of suspending area SHOs, DSPs and SPs have also failed to end the life-threatening game.
At least eight incidents of casualties due to kite string have been reported during the ongoing year.
On the other hand, Lahore police during first seven months of the year claimed to have arrested as many as 9,536 people and registered 9,272 FIRs against them for violating the ban on kites.
The police seized 99,581 kites, 2,346 string rolls and other material from kite makers and flyers during the crackdown. City Division police arrested 2,143 accused, Cantt Division 2,394, Civil Lines Division 1,047, Sadar Division 1,076, Iqbal Town 1,395 and Modal Town 1,481 people during the crackdown.
DIG Operation Lahore Ashfaq Khan said that along with other measures police were also using the drone technology to capture kite flyers in narrow streets and thickly populated areas of the city.
He urged parents to also play their vital role to discourage their children from getting involved in the dangerous activity of kite flying. He further said that the police had extended cooperation to the district administration for a crackdown on kite factories.
Days before the latest casualty, on August 8, kite string had claimed the life of another minor in the provincial capital’s Shafiqabad area. The victim was identified as four-year-old Ali Asghar. He left his home with his father at night to bring milk on a motorbike. On the way, he suffered a cut on his neck because of a string hanging from an electric pole. He was shifted to a hospital where doctors pronounced him as brought dead. An FIR of the incident was registered.
Another similar incident was reported on May 9, when a kite string ran over the neck of 18-year-old Usman Yousaf, a factory worker from Narowal. He wass riding a motorbike with his minor brother Ali Haider on the rear seat on Band Road in Islampura. Usman fell down all of a sudden and started heavily bleeding that claimed his life.
A youth identified as Shahid was left injured in a similar incident in April in Shadman. He was going somewhere on a motorbike when a kite string ran over his neck.
A similar case was reported on March 24 in Factory Area. The victim identified as Danish, 25, was going somewhere on a motorbike. On Ferozpur Road, kite string ran over his neck. Resultantly, he fell down and suffered severe injuries. Nearby people shifted him to a hospital in a critical condition on a rickshaw. The victim succumbed to injuries.
Last year in November, an incident was reported in Wahdat Colony. The victim, eight-year-old Abu Bakar, suffered a severe injury on his neck.
A week earlier, a case was reported in Mughalpura in which a youth died.
Two weeks before that Amir Ali was riding a motorcycle near Mughalpura flyover when kite string slit his throat. He was shifted to a hospital where he died. Earlier, a 20-year-old man died due to kite string injury in Sanda.
In July last year, a 25-year-old man was injured.
In April 2019, 28-year-old Farhan was injured in Youanabad. Two such incidents were reported in February last year in Factory Area. In January last year, a man was killed due to kite string in Harbancepura. Another man, identified as Noor Muhammad, 40, was injured in a similar incident.
Such incidents have also claimed several lives in other districts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2020.